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5.06.2011

UEFA will impose an exemplary punishment to Mourinho

Today, the Control and Disciplinary Committee of UEFA may punish Mourinho with a historical monetary fine and a four Champions League games suspension, which would mean that he could not sit on the bench for Real Madrid in Europe's top competition until next November.

Mourinho is accused of violating the Article 5 of the Disciplinary Regulation, on the Principles of Conduct, which stipulates that "member associations, as players, managers and members of a club, should act according to the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship". All of them, according to UEFA sources, were not respected by the coach of Real Madrid during the first match of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona and in the press conference after the meeting.

Jose Mourinho and Wolfgang Stark

Members of the Disciplinary Committee have already exchanged documents and opinions, have formed an idea and today will shape their conclusions at the meeting in Nyon (Switzerland). Probably, Mourinho will be punished with one match suspension, by the send-off he suffered in the Bernabéu Stadium (already completed in the second game), another for violating the "parole" when caused the second yellow card for Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso against Ajax this season, another for his remarks about referees, UEFA and Villar, and one more for a repeat offender. It is even possible that this battery of suspensions will join two other matches of sanction by the gestures he made after the match at Camp Nou in reference to arbitration by De Bleeckere.

In UEFA do not forget that Mourinho had already been banned for two matches in March 2005 for his accusations against the referee Frisk and misconduct in a game against Barcelona, also in the Champions League. This time, Mourinho said he saw the coach of Barcelona, Rijkaard, entering the referee's dressing room at halftime, and therefore decided not to attend the press conference and disallow his players to speak after the game. Frisk and Rijkaard denied the alleged encounter. Swedish referee retired after that episode after reporting death threats from Chelsea fans.

Therefore, the Control and Disciplinary Committee of UEFA believes that Mourinho is a repeat offender in his criticism of referees. Its president, Thomas Partl, has also instructed the press officers of the UEFA in the Champions League matches against Barcelona, a full report on the statements of the coaches and players from both teams after two games. They also have the sanctions applied in past time to the coaches for serious criticism about the fairness of the referees. One of the last, a three games suspension applied by FIFA, for former France coach Domenech, for saying in "Le Parisien" that he had seen "a bought referee" in a match Italy-France (Under-21).

In view of this possible sanction that UEFA will impose Mourinho, the coach will defend in the courts. According to Spanish media, Real Madrid coach will revert to the International Tribunal of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) and whether the decision of this organization was not favorable, he would revert to the ordinary courts of Switzerland. Finally, if the punishment is less than four matches suspension, the Portuguese coach would accept it.